Mazda lists the Bahman Group, based in Tehran, Iran, on its Middle East & North Africa distributor list. (Company Website)

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"UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran) group calls on Japanese car manufacturer Mazda and French Peugeot to end their business in Iran, UANI (United Against Nuclear Iran U.S. group) Communications Director Nathan Carleton told Trend. While a lot of car manufacturing companies have left Iran due to sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic, according to Carleton despite the threat of sanctions, there are still some world-known car brands that do their business in Iran. Among them are Mazda and Peugeot. 'Mazda's ongoing business in Iran is egregious given that its vehicles are produced in Iran in partnership with the Bahman Group, a manufacturing conglomerate that is 45.5 percent owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),' Carleton said. He went on to note that if Mazda does not end its Iran business, it should be sanctioned under presidential Executive Order 13645, which authorizes sanctions on entities 'knowingly engaged in a significant transaction for the sale, supply, or transfer to Iran of significant goods or services used in connection with the automotive sector of Iran.'" (Trend, "UANI calls on Mazda, Peugeot to end their business in Iran," 9/16/13)

"Mazda has been operating in Iran at least since 1972. The Bahman Group assembles Mazda cars for the company. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation, a large investment fund closely linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), owns a 45 percent share of the Bahman Group, according to Iranian newspaper reports. (Among the links between the Sepah Cooperative Foundation and the IRGC: the general manager of the the Sepah Cooperative until this fall was IRGC commander Ahmad Vahid-Dastjerdi. Another notable head of the Sepah Cooperative Foundation was Mohsen Rafiqdoost, who helped found the IRGC. The Sepah Cooperative Foundation's stake in the Bahman Group has also been reported by Rand Corporation, in a 2009 report prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, as well as the think tanks the Washington Institute, and the Council on Foreign Relations reports.) Mazda spokesman spokesman Chris Keeffe said that his company's business in Iran complies with all Japanese and international laws. Mr. Keefe said he was not aware of the reports linking the Iranian Revolutionary Gaurd to the Bahman Group and threfore could not comment. Contracts for Mazda and Ford Motor Company, which owned one-third of Mazda until 2008 and remains one of its largest shareholders, include selling trucks and cars to the United States military." From 2000-2009, the company was the recipient of $2.4 billion US federal funds. Their investments in Iran are currently active. (The New York Times, "Profiting from Iran, and the US," 3/6/2010)

“Japan's Mazda, one-third-owned by Ford, has a joint venture with Iran's private Bahman group to make a version of the Mazda 323, and Chrysler parent DaimlerChrysler has licensed assembly of an E-class Mercedes-Benz.” (Fortune, “Made in Iran,” 9/12/06)